In the featured attraction of WEC 50’s untelevised preliminary card, the Polish fighter overwhelmed Njokuani with a quick onslaught of punches and forced a TKO stoppage just 95 seconds into the fight.

The WEC 51 prelims took place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and preceded the night’s Versus-televised main card.

Although Jewtuszko had dominated his country’s fight circuit, he remained a relatively unknown to American fight fans. But again displaying WEC’s world-class global recruiting, the undefeated fighter made a splash in his U.S. debut and picked up his eighth stoppage win in eight career fights with a convincing win over Njokuani.

Jewtuszko, who’s well-versed in both grappling and Muay Thai, did his damage in the stand-up department and wobbled Njokuani with overhand rights, a spinning backfist and brutal uppercuts from the clinch. After dropping to the mat, Njokuani ate more punches to the head until referee Herb Dean mercifully halted the bout at the 1:35 mark of the opening round.

With the successful promotional debut, Jewtuszko moves to 8-0 overall and 1-0 in the WEC. Njokuani, who once had a title shot within reach, now has lost back-to-back fights to falls to 12-4 (3-3 WEC).

The usually stoic Vazquez quickly unloaded an offensive attack that saw his opponent slammed to the mat and immediately fending off dozens of unanswered blows. Vazquez swiftly transitioned into dominant crucifix and mount positions and nearly prompted referee Josh Rosenthal’s intervention on more than one occasion in that opening frame.

Although he survived the round and appeared focused for the second frame, Semerzier again was put on the defensive when Vazquez landed an overhand left before hopping on his back. Despite Vazquez working a rear-naked choke from the standing position, Semerzier quickly was in trouble, and before he even fell to the mat, he tapped out while clearly disgusted with himself.

The end came at the 1:35 mark of the second round.

Vazquez (15-4 MMA, 2-2 WEC) has now won back-to-back fights since posting losses in his first two WEC fights. Semerzier (5-2 MMA, 1-2 WEC), meanwhile, has lost both of his fights since scoring one of 2009’s biggest upsets – a submission victory over ground ace Wagnney Fabiano – and could be on the WEC chopping block.

In a performance that could get him promoted to WEC televised main cards, lightweight Ricardo Lamas picked up his third straight WEC victory and topped a tough Dave Jansen via unanimous decision.

However, the fight likely was a nightmare for the ringside judges, who were forced to choose a winner from two extremely well-matched opponents. Both Lamas and Jansen had their moments standing and during some slick ground exchanges. But Lamas may have benefited from his opponent’s facial cuts that bloodied both competitors by what proved to be a pivotal third round.

In the end, MMAjunkie.com scored the toss-up fight 29-28 in Jansen’s favor, but the judges didn’t agree, and Lamas earned the unanimous-decision victory via scores of 29-28 on all three scorecards.

The victory improved Lamas’ overall record to 9-1 and his WEC mark to 4-1. After opening his career with a perfect 14-0 mark, Jansen (14-2 MMA, 1-2 WEC) now has suffered back-to-back losses.

In what proved to be an evenly matched featherweight bout, Fredson Paixao admittedly needed the help of his coaches to secure a close split-decision victory over Bryan Caraway.

Caraway found first-round success with a hugely effective but simple game plan: He’d fake a takedown and then unload his hands. The shots took a toll, and Paixao was shaking off the sting of the punches as he went back to his corner for instruction after the first round. Once there, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s cornermen told him to attack his opponent’s legs. Paixao did just that in the next two action-filled frames, and the low kicks slowed Caraway’s advances and eventually put him on the defensive.

“I saw his face every time a kick landed,” said Paixao, who earned the judges’ nod via scores of 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28. “He put his leg back after a few kicks. I knew they bothered him.

“Going into the last rounds, I knew I needed to listen to my coaches more (and) to impose my game plan. I feel I have to work my boxing more, but I’m very, very happy about the win. It was a great fight.”

The victory moves Paixao to 10-3-1 overall and 2-1 in the WEC. He’s also now 4-1 (with one no-contest) over his past six fights. Caraway (14-5 MMA, 0-2 WEC), meanwhile, faces an uncertain future in the organization following back-to-back WEC losses.

Poirier, who stopped all of his previous seven opponents (five in the first round), showed a solid sprawl throughout the fight. But Castillo’s relentless attacks eventually forced the fight to the mat. With an effective top game and suitable submission defense, the former NAIA All-American wrestler cruised to a unanimous-decision victory via scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27.

Castillo, who was likely fighting for his WEC life after suffering back-to-back losses to Shane Roller and Anthony Pettis, breathed a huge sigh of relief after the fight.

After the first loss to Roller, I had a
chimp on my back,” he said. “After the loss to Pettis, I had a gorilla on my back.
Now there’s nothing on my back.”

With the win, Castillo moves to 9-3 overall and 4-3 in the WEC. With his first pro defeat since turning pro 15 months ago, Poirier falls to 7-1 (0-1 WEC).

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